It seems like a formidable task for students at Wayne Memorial High School, but director Kate Sullivan knows her cast is up to the challenge in staging Murder’s in the Heir this weekend.

“I decided on this show after deciding on the spring production, The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee,” Sullivan said. “It has audience interaction and I wanted to continue audience interaction for the season. That’s why I went with this production.”

The murder mystery-comedy will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 20-22, in Stockmeyer Auditorium on the campus of Wayne Memorial High School at Glenwood and Fourth Street in Wayne.

While Spelling Bee has members of the audience go on stage and be a part of the contest, the ending of Murder’s in the Heir is determined by a vote of the audience. After viewing Act I, the audience, during intermission, will decide by secret ballot who they think killed billionaire Simon Starkweather. Students won’t find out what the consensus is until just before that start of Act II.

Like game of ‘Clue’

It’s much like a live version of the game Clue. Almost every character in the play has the weapon, opportunity and motive to commit the unseen murder.

“Every night the show will have a different ending based on the selection of the audience,” Sullivan said. “Every evening we’ve been rehearsing a different character ending. It is a bit of a daunting task, but the cast is really excited. This keeps them on their toes. The script changes, and they have to be prepared to change.”

Alex Sambone plays Simon Starkweather who summons his family and employees to announce the contents of his will. His lawyer, Lois VanZandt (Weronika Jarmoszewicz) reveals that he has bequeathed vast fortunes to his many servants and four heirs. However, the will is due to expire at midnight when the fortunes diminish to $50,000 and the rest of the fortune will be spent creating his clone.

While Sullivan is directing the actual play, Madeline Abicht is directing as a member of the cast. She will stop the acting on stage to talk to the audience about the production.

“I make comments and the cast starts getting angry with me,” Abicht. said “It’s a very different role. It felt very odd sitting out here (in the theater) and watching what’s happening on stage.”

Abicht also is one of four assistant directors who handle the day-to-day activities for Sullivan. She’s in charge of attendance, keeping track of students who are late, tardy or with a teacher.

“I make sure they’re focused, whether it’s going over lines or doing scenes, so we put on the show we want to put on,” she said.

Last year’s Fiona in Shrek, Abicht credits Sullivan in with motivating her to extend her acting ability.

“She’s helped me branch out and find myself on stage,” she said. “I love theater and I was drawn back in to it with Drowsy Chaperone. That made me fall in love with theater again, and Mrs. Sullivan pushes and motivates me.”

Other assistants

Also serving as assistant directors are Megan Keiper, who handles props and costumes and plays Minerva Walker, a member of the household staff; Jordan Khalaf, who’s handling publicity and patrons and plays Starkweather’s grandson Jordan; and Alicia Highland who handles contacts and tracks progress reports and grades. She also plays Starkweather’s great-niece Paula Thompson, a Southern belle.

For Highland, her role is “exactly” what she wanted.

“I did a lot of research before the auditions, and I fell in love with the role,” she said. “She’s kind of sneaky and has a gun.”

This is Keiper’s third time as an assistant director. Her job is making a list of what’s needed for the production, pulling what she can from the prop room and buying whatever else is needed.

She has been involved in the theater program at Wayne since her sophomore year and admits that getting involved in it wasn’t what she had thought it would be.

“I always loved the theater world and finally got the nerve to do it as a sophomore,” she said. “It was a very life-altering experience to be with people who are passionate about theater.”

It’s Khalaf’s second time as an assistant director and his second time handling publicity and lining up patrons for the show. With the play opening this weekend he has had the job of getting posters out in the community, announcing it.

“It’s a relatively straight forward job, and I enjoy it,” he said.

As for his role at Jacob Starkweather, he calls it “fun.”

“It was a role I was definitely interested in,” he said. “It looked like a fun play and all the roles are fun when you get down to it.”